Abstract
As people develop a meaningful understanding of racism, they also experience shifts in their appraisals of self and others as members of an unfairly stratified society. Consistent with the premises of Helms' (1995) racial identity theory, these shifts can be explained as transformational processes that have relevance to matters of morality and peace advancement. Individuals who operate at advanced levels of racial identity development overcome the confinements inherent in a racism Zeitgeist and in so doing, learn to accept themselves and others more authentically. This theory can prove crucial to peace promotion in children because it espouses to nurture the integration of self within the broader spectrum of humanity. Educators who transform their selves can also transform their educational practices by disrupting cycles of socialization that adversely influence children's identity formation. They can also contribute to the creation of new structures of socialization. In this paper, I describe this theory and how it applies to peace education.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Bandura, A. (1990). Selective activation and disengagement of moral conduct. Journal of Social Issues 46, 27–46.
Banks, L. (1981). The Indian in the cupboard. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.
Brown, D. (1970). Bury my heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian history of the American west. New York: Bantam.
Beauboeuf-Lafontant, T., & Augustine, D.S. (Eds.). (1996). Facing racism in education (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Educational Review. (Reprint Series No. 21).
Camacho, D.E. (1998). Environmental injustices, political struggles: race, class, and the environment. Durham, NC: Duke University.
Chesler, M.A. (1976). Contemporary sociological theories of racism. In P.A. Katz (Ed..)Towards the elimination of racism (pp. 21–72). New York: Pergamon.
Cochran-Smith, M. (2000). Blind vision: Unlearning racism in teacher education. Harvard Educational Review 70, 157–190.
Crenshaw, K., Gotanda, N., Peller, G., & Thomas, K. (1995). Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement. New York: Free Press.
Cross, W.E., Jr. (1970). The Negro-to-Black conversion experience: Toward a psychology of Black liberation. Black World 20, 13–27.
Cross, W.E., Jr. (1991). Shades of black: Diversity in African American identity. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University.
Diaz, J. (1987). Learning through action in a violent environment: An experience of adult non-formal education at the grassroots level? In T.R. Carson & H.D. Gideonse (Eds.)Peace education and the task for peace educators (pp. 49–56). A World Council for Curriculum and Instruction (WCCI) monograph.
Fanon, F. (1968). Black skin, white masks. New York: Grove Weidenfeld.
Fish, J.M. (2000). What anthropology can do for psychology: Facing physics envy, ethnocentrism, & a belief in race. American Anthropologist 102, 552–563.
Fordham, S.A. (1996). Blacked out: Dilemmas of race, identity, and success at Capital High. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.
Franklin, J.H., & Moss, A.A. (2000). From slavery to freedom: A history of African Americans (8th ed.). Boston: MacGraw-Hill.
Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Herder & Herder.
Freire, P. (1986). Pedagogy of hope. New York: Continuum.
Gaines, S.O., Jr., & Reed, E.S. (1995). Prejudice: From Allport to DuBois. American Psychologist 50, 96–103.
Garibaldi, A.M. (1999). Four decades of progress... and decline: An assessment of African American educational attainment. Journal of Negro Education 66, 165–181.
Giroux, H.A. (1997). Channel surfing: Race talk and the destruction of today's youth. New York: St. Martin's.
Giroux, H.A. (2000). Stealing innocence: Youth, corporate power, and the politics of culture. New York: St. Martin's.
Gonzales, M.G. (2000). Mexicanos: A history of Mexicans in the United States. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University.
Gould, S. (1996). The mismeasure of man (3rd ed.). New York: Norton.
Grace, C.A. (1997). Clinical applications of racial identity theory. In C. E. Thompson & R.T. Carter (Eds.)Racial identity theory: Applications to individual, group, and organizational interventions (pp. 56–68). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Gushue, G. & Sicalides, E. (1997). Applying racial identity theory to family therapy. In C.E. Thompson & R.T. Carter (Eds.)Racial identity theory: Applications to individual, group, and organizational interventions (pp. 127–145). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Harris, C.I. (1995). Whiteness as property. In K. Crenshaw, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, & K. Thomas (Eds)Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement (pp. 276–291). New York: New Press.
Harris, I.M. (1988). Peace education. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.
Helms, J.E. (1990a). Black and white racial identity: Theory, research, and practice. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Helms, J.E. (1990b). A race is a nice thing to have. Topeka, KS: Content Communications.
Helms, H.E. (1994). The conceptualization of racial identity and other "racial" constructs. In E.J. Trickett, R.J. Watts, & D. Birman (Eds.)Human diversity: Perspectives on people in context (pp. 285–311). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Helms, J.E. (1995). An update of Helms's White and People of Color Racial identity models. In J. Ponterotto, J.M. Casas, L.A. Suzuki, & C.M. Alexander (Eds.)Handbook of multicultural counseling (pp. 181–198). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Helms, J.E. & Cook, D.A. (1999). Using race and culture in counseling and psychotherapy: Theory and practice. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom.New York: Routledge.
Jost, J.T. & Banajii, M.R. (1994) The role of stereotyping in systemjustification and the production of false consciousness. British Journal of Social Psychology 33, 1–27.
King, M.L., Jr. (1964). Why we can't wait. New York: New American Library.
Kitano, H.L.L., & Daniels, R. (1995). Asian Americans: Emerging minorities (2nd ed.). Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1993). Toward a theory of culturally relevant teaching. American Educational Research Journal 32, 465–491.
Martin-Baro, I. (1994). Writings for a liberation psychology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.
Massey, D.S. & Denton, N.A. (1993). American apartheid: Segregation and the making of the underclass. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.
McIntosh, P. (1998). White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. In V. Cyrush (Ed.)Experiencing race, class, and gender in the United States (pp. 209–213). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
Morrison, T. (1992). Race-ing, en-Gendering power: Essays on Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, and the construction of social reality. New York: Pantheon.
Osbourne, K. (1987). Peace education and the schools: What can we learn from history? In T.R. Carson & H.D. Gideonse (Eds.)Peace education and the task for peace educators. A World Council for Curriculum and Instruction (WCCI) monograph.
Parham, T.A., & White, J., & Ajamu, A. (2000). The psychology of Blacks: An African-centered perspective. Upper Saddler River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Powell, L.C., Barry, M., & Davis, G.Y. (1997). Facing reality in urban schools: Using racial identity theory in family group. In C.E. Thompson & R.T. Carter (Eds.)Racial identity theory: Applications to individual, group, and organizational interventions (pp. 147–158). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Purpel, D.E. (1989). The moral and spiritual crisis in education: A curriculum for justice and compassion in education.Granby, MA: Bergin & Garvey.
Reardon, B.A. (1988). Comprehensive peace education: Educating for global responsibility. New York: Teachers College.
Reardon, B.A. (1995). Educating for human dignity: Learning about rights and responsibilities. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania.
Rodriguez, N.M. & Villeverde, L.A. (2000). Dismantling privilege: Pedagogy, politics, and whiteness. New York: Peter Lang.
Sampson, E.E. (1993). Identity politics: Challenges to psychology's understanding. American Psychologist 48, 1219–1230.
Skillings, J.H., & Dobbins, J.E. (1991). Racism as a disease: Etiology and treatment implications. Journal of Counseling and Development 70, 206–212.
Smedley, A. (1993). Race in North America: Origins and evolution of a world view. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Southern Poverty Law Center (1998). Starting small (video recording). Birmingham, AL: Teaching Tolerance.
Stalvey, L.M. (1989). The education of a WASP.Madison: University of Wisconsin.
Tatum, B.D. (1992). Talking about race, learning about racism: The application of racial identity development theory in the classroom. Harvard Educational Review 62, 1–24.
Tatum, B.D. (1997). Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? And other conversations on race. New York: Basic.
Tatum, B.D. (1999). Which way do we go? Heading for diversity: The new frontier. Journal of Negro Education 68, 550–554.
Tec, N. (1984). Dry tears: The story of a lost childhood. New York: Oxford University.
Thompson, B. & Tyagi, S. (1996) Names we call home: Autobiography on racial identity. New York: Routledge.
Thompson, C.E. (1997). Facilitating racial identity development in the professional context. In C.E. Thompson & R.T. Carter (Eds.)Racial identity theory: Applications to individual, group, and organizational interventions (pp. 33–48). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Thompson, C.E. (2001). The Heritage Project: Applying racial identity theory to school and community reform. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Thompson, C.E., & Carter, R.T. (1997). Racial identity theory: Applications to individual, group, and organizational interventions. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Thompson, C.E., & Neville, H.A. (1999a). Racism, mental health, and mental health practice. The Counseling Psychologist 27, 155–223.
Thompson, C.E., & Neville, H.A. (1999b). Racism, mental health, and change: Some further thoughts. The Counseling Psychologist 27, 256–262.
Thompson, F.T. (2000). Deconstructing ebonic myths: The first step in establishing effective intervention strategies. Interchange 31, 419–455.
Tutu, D. (1994). The rainbow people of God: The making of a peaceful revolution. New York: Doubleday.
Weis, L. (1990). Working class without work: High school students in a deindustrializing economy. New York: Routledge.
Wells-Barnett, I. B. (1993). On lynching. Salem, NH: Ayer. (Original work published 1892)
Wiesenthal, S. (1998). The sunflower: On the possibilities and limits of forgiveness. New York: Schoken.
Wong, K.S., & Chan, S. (1998). Claiming America: Constructing Chinese American identities during the Exclusion era. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University.
Woodson, C. (1990). Miseducation of the Negro. Trenton, NJ: Africa World. (Original work published 1933)
Zia, H. (2000). Asian American dreams: The emergence of an American people. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Thompson, C.E. Racial Identity Theory and Peace Education: Tools for the Teacher In All of Us. Interchange 34, 421–447 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:INCH.0000039026.88225.f7
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:INCH.0000039026.88225.f7